#spandex verbose

[operationoverdrive]

you vs the endgame she tells you not to worry about

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1979

The X-Men, those globe-trotting mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 117 - 128, X-Man Annual 3) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Terry Austin, George Perez

See Jean? Dark Phoenix is nothing: this is how you turn evil properly. (X-Men 123)

So, these things have been getting longer. Whoops.

Last year, plotlines tended to bleed over in one another, but this year is a lot more arc-based, jumping from location to location. This is basically X-Men: World Tour. After hitting Antarctica and the Savage Land, our team of merry mutants visits Japan, Canada, Egypt, Scotland and even a theme park! (And really, both Murder World and Disney Land are run by capitalist scumbags who pretend to be in it for the art, the only difference being that Arcade purposefully murders his guests.)

But, before we check in with the X-Men, we return to the Institute. See, there’s a mutual misunderstanding that wouldn’t be out of place in a Shakespearian tragedy: Jean and Charles think Beast and Jean were the only survivors of their fight with Magneto in Antarctica, while the rest of the X-Men believe they were the only survivors and Jean and Beast perished. Since the X-Men have been trapped in the Savage Land, nobody has been able to clear up the confusion.

With their grief driving a wedge between her and Charles, Jean leaves the mansion to deal with her feelings on her own. (She’ll end up on Muir Isle.)

This is adorable! And, if the whole "Empress of the known Universe "-thing blows up in her face, she can always become a barista at Starbucks. (X-Men 117)

Lilandra successfully persuades Xavier to leave Earth as her consort, now that there is nothing left for him. Xavier agrees, but not before having a flashback to the time he met another telepath named Amahl Farouk in Egypt. (The Shadow King isn’t relevant just yet, but he’ll become an important villain later on.)

The X-Men, meanwhile, cross a treacherous ocean on a raft and are picked up by a Japanese vessel. The Japanese do not allow them to call anyone, for some reason. Sure. When they finally dock in Japan - six weeks later - some arms dealer named Magnum Moses has put Agarishima is on fire. Like, literally an inferno of such big proportions that even Storm can’t do much.

What follows is an uninspired, slipshod adventure. For some reason, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing are there too, because the president needed American detectives to investigate Magnum Moses (?) and for some reason, Misty doesn’t know Jean thinks Scott is dead, nor does she mention she just saw Jean to Scott. AUGH. It will take almost a year for Scott to figure out Jean isn’t dead and it becomes increasingly more contrived. I get that Claremont needed to isolate Jean to make her susceptible to, er, a certain someone’s machinations, but holy fuck do I have to suspend my disbelief for all of this bullshit.

The only good things about this little arc are:

Sunfire is still a dick.

Wolverine meets Mariko Yashida, a Japanese girl who actually reciprocates his feelings, as opposed to Jean. I’ve mostly been ignoring his budding feelings for Jean, because I stopped finding love triangles interesting since I was 16 and watched The OC, so I can only applaud this development. Mariko brings out Wolverine’s soft side and it’s very adorable. Later on, she moves to NYC for some reason and they start dating.

There is something sweetly disarming about calling Wolverine ‘beautiful’. (X-Men 120)

Anyway, Magnum is holding Japan hostage: either they give him what he wants - I think that might be money, sorry, wasn't paying attention - or he sinks Japan by activating the fault lines and you guys, I am sooo bored. Unsurprisingly, the X-Men stop him and for once, it’s Banshee who gets to play the most important part.

It’s a good thing I was terrible at science, otherwise I might have to point out that earthquakes and sonic waves don’t work that way! I simply get to be entertained by little rascal Colossus, plugging his ears like a toddler, and Sunfire’s gritty determination to not be impressed by some silly screaming Irishman. (X-Men 119)

Banshee pays a steep price for the victory, however: his vocal chords end up damaged, leaving him effectively powerless for the remainder of the year.

Oh, and here’s interesting fact about the above spread: you may or may not know that Chris Claremont and John Byrne were notoriously terrible at working together; this issue became a particular sore point between the creators. See, Byrne wanted to run the above panel without the sound of ‘Kra-Koom’, believing the art was strong enough to convey the destruction. He was livid when the finished product ended up containing a sound effect after all. I get your frustration, man, but if you want a writer who knows how to say less with more, you should maybe not work with Claremont?

(One of the reasons Claremont liked being so verbose and descriptive in his scripts was because otherwise, the artist would fill in the blanks using his own imagination. It’s no wonder these two found it hard to work together.)

On the flight to the US of A, Colleen Wing hits on Cyclops. It has to be the jawline, right? It can’t be the personality. All of a sudden, a snow storm causes their plane to be diverted to Calgary. The cause of this delay is Alpha Flight, who want their Wolverine back!

When even the narration is all “and they think they’re equal to any team of superheroes”, you know you’re a bunch of C-listers. Ugh. (X-Men 121)

Vindicator, previously known as Captain Alpha. He changed his name after accidentally shooting Moira that one time, which is exactly the kind of hollow gesture this dude would make. Ugh. If you think his new-found remorse won’t let him threaten an airplane chock full of innocent passengers, you would be wrong.

Shaman, doctor by day, magic user by night. Him and his magical little pouch are to blame for the snow storm.

Sasquatch, Canada’s answer to the Hulk. (Hilariously, the theory on why he turns furry instead of green is because he’s closer to the Aurora Borealis and this somehow messes with the radiation?)

Snowbird, a young Arctic goddess. Precious. To be cherished. Barely there for this adventure, sadly.

Northstar, an arrogant, hot-headed speedster, the twin brother of

Aurora, a lover, not a fighter. Together, they have light powers.

Vindicator and Shaman hog most of the spotlight, so Alpha Flight continues to be the ever-loving worst. They’re really wasting Northstar’s first appearance here. Here's why they suck:

Alpha Flight accidentally smashes a plane and keeps threatening to drag Wolverine back to the military against his will.

They push the cover price of the comic to a whoppin’ 40 cents.

Johnny fuckin’ Hudson even provokes Storm into an attack in the middle of a mall.

Shaman lets his blizzard get out of control.

After Storm fixes this mistake for him, Northstar has the gall to knock her out, “because she’s obviously the strongest”. Like, you’re not wrong, but damn, y’all a bunch of unpleasant superheroes.

To stop the fight, Wolverine decides to turn himself in. The X-Men leave, but while flying back, they already make plans to save their teammate. Wolverine saves them the trouble, casually sauntering into the cockpit while claiming that pulling a fast one on them was the easiest thing ever.

To be fair, I understand why you’d want to put a country between yourself and those bozos.

And finally, the X-Men are home! Xavier left them the equivalent of a Post-It saying “off to space”, so they try to pick up their life as best they can. None of them contact Jean’s parents, make an attempt to visit her grave or happen to see Beast on TV and by now, my suspension of disbelief is stretched so far that it could replace Reed Richards on the Fantastic Four.

Ororo, meanwhile, makes a little pilgrimage to Harlem, to the building she grew up in before she moved to Cairo.

I have failed you as a recapper, because I have absolutely no idea how to parse this scene. (X-Men 122)

I think I’d have to write a full-on thesis before I could properly analyse this, because so many things intersect here: poverty and racism, the boundaries of a superhero comic, confronting a (shared) past. I can’t even fully gauge if this is a clumsy, privileged attempt at tackling a serious topic or rather, a valuable moment in a comic that continually tries to expand on its themes of racism, exclusion and prejudice. One thing I will note is:

Luke Cage delivers the sort of trite conclusion that they’re superheroes: they’re better at fighting Galactus than at fixing the human condition. Point is, he kind of has to believe that, doesn’t he? It’s the sort of blind spot we all permit ourselves: you can’t fix everything. None of us have the power to fix the earth, or humanity, or the economy, or whatever: if you’re lucky, you can maybe tend to your own garden and leave it better than you found it, ensuring some happiness for yourself and a few loved ones.

Chasing bank robbers is easy. Superhero stuff. But here? Who do you attack here? These kids, or the system that failed them? You can’t really punch a needle exchange into being. Maybe that’s the appeal of superhero comics: there’s a clear villain, which is so sorely lacking in our day to day lifes. There, we are ruled by systems that are rooted in inequality, patriarchy, gender...

But Storm isn’t like Luke Cage, not in this regard. Before she became an X-Man, she used her powers to help people that came to her. And the whole point of the X-Men - other than beating up villains in colorful spandex - is that they want to change the system. They want to fix things, they want to fix a dark part of human nature, the part that hates which we fear.

Storm doesn’t really respond to Luke Cage here, but we know she’ll keep fighting the good fight, despite insurmountable odds. You can’t fix mankind, I don’t think, but you can sure as hell try.

*coughs*

Anyway!

Black Tom and Juggernaut hire Arcade… to kill the X-Men! I’m not sure why? I thought these two usually attempted to solve things on their own and Arcade’s fee is, like, a million bucks, so…? Maybe Black Tom asked his boyfriend what he wanted for his birthday and Juggernaut clenched his fists and said “I WANT THE X-MEN DEAD” and things escalated from there.

So, Arcade is a subtle villain. While Scott and Colleen Wing are on a date, this happens:

I can’t decide which is funnier: kidnapping people by sneaking up on them with A GARBAGE TRUCK or the fact that Spider-Man deduces this is Arcade’s doing by the noise alone. (X-Men 123)

Spider-Man doesn’t really figure into the rest of the plot, by the way.

Arcade successfully kidnaps all of the X-Men (and their dates: Colleen, Amanda and Betsy). Who is this Arcade? Well, he is an assassin who lets his victims run through a gauntlet of some sort, testing them with potentially deadly results in his Murderworld. He’s like a discount-combo of Saw and the Joker, except a lot less competent and a lot more spoiled rich kid. He barely kills anyone, ever, until maaaybe Avengers Arena, some forty years later.

Arcade veers heavily to the silly side of the silly-to-sinister scale, but he at least commits to a theme. Bonus is that trapping your heroes in a bunch of ricocheting balls fubars them ever-so beautifully. (X-Men 123)

This whole adventure is very silly and has very little bearing on the overarching plot, but it’s a fun enough romp: Cyclops nearly gets squashed by a hydraulic press, Nightcrawler gets attacked by bumper cars with chain saws attached to them, stuff like that. The absolute best part is when Colossus is hypnotized by an illusion of the KGB and becomes THE PROLETARIAN.

His insignia is Vladimir Lenin, y’all.

After various shenanigans, everybody is freed from their respective booby traps, everyone except Colossus. See, Piotr has been feeling down, torn between the exciting new loyalty to the X-Men and the more dutiful loyalty to his family and his motherland. (Also, he’s been feeling like a failure because he came up short a couple a times, aw.) Those feelings are exactly what Arcade has been abusing, but when Colossus comes in for the kill, Storm gives the most heartfelt plea:

I’m not crying, you’re crying. (X-Men 124)

Arcade’s all: “Eh, can’t win ‘em all” and yeets the X-Men out of Murderworld. The story has barely any other repercussions, except we stop seeing Colleen Wing and Betsy (Piotr’s date) after this. To be fair, being kidnapped by a super villain is a good reason to stop seeing someone.

Even more inconsequential is the adventure in the Annual. The only important thing to glean from there is that, when Thor is unavailable, Storm is a suitable substitution. Couldn’t agree more.

The quality of the comic has been steadily ascending throughout the year and ends on a supremely high note: Proteus. Because I think it might be Claremont’s best work so far, I’ll be dedicating a full post to that. (Man, that 10-picture-limit is a real bummer, huh?)

Ugliest Costume: I don’t care, I just want someone to cosplay the Proletarian.

Best new character: There’s actually a few options - Snowbird, Northstar, Proteus - but both Jean-Paul and Narya don’t really show their best sides this year, so I’m going in a different direction. My pick is the Shadow King. He is a very effective foil to Xavier, perhaps even moreso than Magneto. I know I rag on Xavier and his cavalier attitude to bending others to his will a lot, but imagine if you had his powers: wouldn’t you just make people do whatever you want? Just, like, all the time? The Shadow King is an effective reminder of what Charles would have been like, had he been immoral. (Well, more immoral.)

No matter how cool your psychic battle may be, this is what it looks like to the rest of the world. (X-Men 117)

Turns evil: Colossus, for the first time!

What to read: 117, 125 - 129.

[kartiavelino]

How Patrick Wilson prepped to fight Jason Momoa in ‘Aquaman’

The cryptic textual content got here in 2015 from director James Wan: “Are you aware Ocean Grasp?” Patrick Wilson didn’t, in reality, know Ocean Grasp, or whether or not it was an individual, a cruise ship or maybe a sequence of all-you-can-eat seafood eating places. “Fortunately in this point in time, there’s Google,” Wilson says, miming livid thumb-typing as he sips espresso in a Chelsea picture studio. “Ocean Grasp? Seems to be cool. Oh, cool masks.” Seems, Ocean Grasp — aka Orm — is the ruler of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis and the archnemesis of Aquaman. And Wilson should have expertly bluffed Wan together with his information of undersea villains, as a result of later this month, he dons Ocean Grasp’s (curiously unrusted) armor for “Aquaman.” Taking part in reverse Jason Momoa, who reprises his position because the titular hero, introduced a selected problem for Wilson. “Jason is like 6-foot-4,” says the 6-foot-even Wilson. “Once I signed on, I mentioned to James, ‘I need to get huge for the position.’ You need to be a formidable opponent.” Wilson, a CrossFit devotee, hit the health club with a coach 5 days every week for 4 months. He jumped from 190 kilos to 210, and continues to look fairly jacked months later, carrying a easy white T-shirt. Éditions M.R “Laurent” jacket, $568 at Matches Trend; Rag & Bone sweater, $395 at Saks Fifth Avenue, 611 Fifth Ave.Matt Holyoak Taking part in a scene-chewing undersea villain who rides a large prehistoric crocodile and provides verbose speeches concerning the destruction of the oceans could appear to be a left-field selection for Wilson, who made his identify onstage and in acclaimed dramas together with 2006’s “Little Youngsters” and one of many buzziest episodes of “Women.” However the actor says he got here to admire the over-the-top nature of the superhero style after enjoying Nite Owl/Dan Dreiberg in 2009’s dystopian comic-book epic “Watchmen.” “I just like the theatrical nature of it,” he says. “In my earlier movies and in my theater days, it was internalized and all behind the eyes — I like issues that push me bodily and emotionally and make me get out of my consolation zone.” Case in level? The latest horror hits Wilson has starred in, together with “The Conjuring” and “Insidious” franchises, additionally made with Wan. “Whenever you’re giving an exorcism or talking Latin or damning a demon again to hell, you’ll be able to’t half-ass any of it,” Wilson says. “It requires that extra-theatrical or melodramatic contact, fueled with actual feelings. It had to be one thing nearly otherworldly.” Exorcisms and tylosaurs — few would have predicted this sort of profession path for a child rising up in Florida. However Wilson was raised in a showbiz-friendly family alongside two brothers. His father was an area TV-news anchor, his mom a choir director who gave voice classes. Wilson’s first industrial, when he was 7, was for Vess, an off-brand cola out of St. Louis. He performed reverse Cardinals soccer nice Dan Dierdorf. By his teenage years, Wilson was enjoying soccer and baseball and likewise appearing in stage productions at his tiny highschool. “There weren’t sufficient youngsters, so we did the whole lot,” he recollects. At age 16, he ditched sports activities to consider appearing. He later attended Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon College, throwing himself utterly into appearing and incomes a drama diploma. Like numerous his classmates, Wilson headed to the Massive Apple, in 1995. “I got here to New York with $1,000 saved up, an Fairness card and an agent. I used to be stacked,” he says. “New York didn’t appear so distant. It appeared like, ‘We’re gonna do it.’” He, his then-girlfriend and her brother all moved right into a two-bedroom rental at 525 W. 49th St., #5D. “It was shady on the West Aspect. No one went previous 10th Avenue then, man,” he says. “My girlfriend’s brother acquired mugged a couple of blocks away inside his first six months.” However inside every week, Wilson had landed his first theater position. Extra adopted, and by 2000 he was singing and dancing on Broadway in “The Full Monty” — a task that earned him a Tony nomination. Throughout his run, he was solid in HBO’s adaptation of “Angels in America.” “Whenever you’re the brand new man and also you’re in the [televised version of] arguably the best play of the century, [Hollywood] simply goes, ‘Oh, OK. You possibly can act,’” Wilson says. “Despite the fact that they could by no means have seen it.” Burton x Carhartt WIP jacket, $230 at Burton; Prime, $78 at Outerknown; Engineered Clothes pants, $265 at Mr Porter. Matt Holyoak Junya Watanabe x Carhartt jacket, $1,210 at Bloomingdale’s, 1000 Third Ave. AMI sweater, $350 at Mr Porter; Denims, $225, related kinds at rag & bone. Matt Holyoak 3 View Slideshow Inside months, he’d landed roles in big-budget flicks “The Alamo” and the movie model of “The Phantom of the Opera.” His guiding profession precept has all the time been variety — a field DC Comics’ “Aquaman” undoubtedly checks. Wilson performs the hero’s half-brother, who’s attempting to hold Momoa from claiming the throne. Not like Momoa, who spends numerous time on land, Wilson’s scenes happen in the underwater kingdom, requiring him to be a guinea pig for particular results. For instance, he wore a particular cap over his head, which allowed the filmmakers to later add CG hair that swayed and flowed as if underwater. Wilson and the opposite actors had been additionally strapped into harnesses that permit them swing across the set in order to simulate swimming. “Me and Willem [Dafoe, who plays royal advisor Vulko] geeked out over that swimming,” Wilson says. “We each felt like we had been performing some bizarre experimental play, and I liked it.” The actor says it was essentially the most bodily demanding position of his profession. However a undertaking so reliant on results naturally has the potential to go very flawed. Couple that with the truth that Aquaman has all the time been a little bit of a punchline in the superhero world, and the movie was hardly a positive factor. “I didn’t have any considerations,” Wilson says. “I knew if [Warner Bros.] gave James the keys to the dominion — in the event that they let him see by his imaginative and prescient, that it might be an fulfilling film.” The movie actually hews a lot nearer to the winking, popcorn tone perfected by rival Marvel’s movies, and seemingly tries to transfer away from the operatic bleakness of director Zack Snyder’s “Batman v Superman,” which first launched this model of Aquaman in 2016. “A part of the explanation for doing this film was as a result of it was lastly one my youngsters might watch,” he says. He and his spouse, actor Dagmara Dominczyk (whose sister, additionally an actor, is married to Scott Foley from “Scandal”), have two boys, ages 9 and 12. Wilson has already offered his youngest son with one thing few fathers can: The boy sleeps with an Orm motion determine beside his mattress. The household had been residing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, however in search of extra space and a yard, packed up for Montclair, NJ. The subsequent cease for his or her youngsters, nevertheless, simply may be Hollywood. “My spouse and I dwell and breathe these things, so I’d by no means knock it,” Wilson says of his kids’s performing ambitions. “They know we didn’t get into this for stardom. Each time these phrases come out, we go, ‘Yeah, no. In order for you to be an actor, examine and go to college.’” Wilson will probably be seen subsequent yr in “Halfway,” a big-budget retelling of the epic World Battle II battle. He’s enjoying Rear Admiral Edwin Layton and at present capturing in Hawaii and Montreal.“It’s going to be a really truthful retelling,” Wilson says. “We labored with the Navy. I knew from early on, after they mentioned, ‘These are the precise glasses [my character] wore.’” For now, it’s unclear whether or not there will probably be an “Aquaman” sequel or if Orm will return. Wilson says he doesn’t assume there’s a “magic quantity” the movie has to hit to warrant a second. He guesses its success will probably be judged extra on “buzz.” If Orm doesn’t return, Wilson is content material together with his spandex oeuvre. “I like that, on the finish of the day, if my two forays into superheroes are Orm and Dan Dreiberg, that’s cool,” Wilson says. “That’s very odd, and I like odd issues.” Prada jacket, $3,850 at Bergdorf Goodman; Prime, $78 at Outerknown.Matt Holyoak Trend Editor: Serena French; Stylist: Anahita Moussavian; Groomer: Anthea King Share this: https://nypost.com/2018/12/11/how-patrick-wilson-prepped-to-fight-jason-momoa-in-aquaman/ The post How Patrick Wilson prepped to fight Jason Momoa in ‘Aquaman’ appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://www.kartiavelino.com/2018/12/how-patrick-wilson-prepped-to-fight-jason-momoa-in-aquaman.html

[operationoverdrive]

wow there really are only 3 of you

[operationoverdrive]

here’s the thing, samurai? I would lay down my life for her. megaforce? the most precious on this earth. ninja steel? an honest 2 god treasure. dino charge? that bitch is on his own and I don’t know him.

[operationoverdrive]

i love power rangers rpm

opeRation overdrive

Power rangers samurai

Megaforce

[operationoverdrive]

beginners guide to power rangers

with the new movie premiering i figured alot of new fans would be coming into the fandom but be lost in the sea of 23 years worth of power rangers: well fear not for i am here with a handy-dandy guide to all seasons of power rangers to help you decide which series is right for you!

spoiler free!

Original Saban Era: 1993 - 2002

this era is filled with Serious plotlines and lots of people die, it is also the most beloved due to housing zordon era (this refers to the era of power rangers that had a link to the original mentor from mighty morphin, Zordon, and spans from mmpr to in space)

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993 - 1995), 145 episodes

an interdimensional being recruits five teenagers to take down a recently freed space witch

highlights: the series that started it all, evil ranger, nineties cheese

pros: lots of girls and people of color, canon ships

cons: lots of multipart episodes, it spans 3 seasons so it’s hard to get through if you end up disliking it, characters are not very deep until the 3rd season, bulk and skull harassing girls

Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers (1996), 10 episodes

when the mighty morphin rangers are incapacitated a new team of alien rangers from the planet aquitar step in to keep the earth safe until they can find a way to save the real rangers

highlights: team of aliens adjusting to earth, learn a little about the mmpr rangers’ cultures

pros: it’s only 10 episodes long, first female leader

cons: the alien rangers are non-characters that don’t have an impact on the series, this isn’t even really considered a series but rather just the tail end of mmpr s3

Zeo (1996), 50 episodes

with new powers and weirder suits, the team fights against the machine empire, an army of robots intent on taking over the world

highlights: the Official sixth ranger reveal is a fun surprise, genre episodes (musical, murder mystery, classic horror, etc.), team up episode, end credit bloopers

pros: development for the rangers, world-building, a couple episodes focusing on marginalized groups, canon ships

cons: red ranger gets A Lot of focus, mmpr villians are randomly around, its really long, plot threads are left hanging

Turbo (1997), 45 episodes

with new powers and a new mentor things pick up after the events of Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (which you don’t really need to watch since the first episode recaps everything) with the space pirate Divatox arriving angel grove to seek revenge on the rangers

highlights: half the ranger memes you see come from this season, end credit bloopers

pros: change of pace from previous seasons, creative take on the “sixth ranger” role, the cast change breathes new life into the show, female villain, multiple ship teases, twice the amount of rangers to love

cons: blue ranger gets A Lot of focus, ends on a cliffhanger that is only answered in the next series

Power Rangers In Space (1998), 43 episodes

the rangers travel to space and join a new red ranger in order to save their kidnapped mentor and defeat the new queen of evil, astronema who plans to take over the universe alongside villains of the past

highlights: team of evil rangers, end credit bloopers, body swap episode, ranger/villian ship tease, Plot Twists galore

pros: 2 new rangers, mini-team up, hailed as having one of the best season finales, first major setting change, canon ship, female villain

cons: really long and a giant portion of the episodes are focused on the red rangers journey, under utilized sixth ranger

Lost Galaxy (1999), 45 episodes

a team of rangers living on a space colony fight against an insectoid alien species

highlights: villain romance, team up, return of a special character

pros: meaningful character deaths, development of the villainess, bonds are made between the rangers and side characters

cons: really long and a lot of episodes are mostly morphed footage, there’s not really a “theme” that they follow, start of the “rangers only own one outfit” trend, no women of color on the team

Lightspeed Rescue (2000), 40 episodes

five "teenagers” are chosen by the government to protect the city of mariner bay from the threat of demons who want to erect their palace over the ashes of the city

highlights: 2 episodes feature a mermaid, no secret identities, team up

pros: solid writing, the teams techie is a woman, canon ship

cons: villainess is treated badly, the main romance has the man persistently pursue the uninterested woman, no women of color on the team

Time Force (2001), 40 episodes

a team of rangers from the future travel to the past to capture an escaped convict without changing past events

highlights: rangers from the future adjusting to the past, movie genre episode, ranger/villain ship tease

pros: canon ship, creative take on the usual sixth ranger/team dynamic, female leader, great emotional acting, team up

cons: pink’s arc revolves around the men in her life, overly red focused

Wild Force (2002), 40 episodes

five rangers are chosen by a princess from ancient times to harness the powers of animals to defeat the evil orgs who threaten the earth and its environment

highlights: anniversary team up featuring past rangers, flashbacks to how each ranger discovered their powers

pros: terrifying and well-developed villain, evil ranger, female mentor, canon ship, conflicts between rangers

cons: villainess treated like shit

Disney Era: 2003 - 2009

this era happened after disney purchased the rights from saban, it is hailed as being more goofy than the previous era but also more inventive as they took more risks storywise. it started the trend of only having one girl to a team and casting kiwi actors leading to adorable accent slips. the era lasted from ninja storm to rpm.

Ninja Storm (2003), 38 episodes

when their academy is kidnapped by an evil space ninja, three inexperienced ninjas-in-training must step up to become power rangers in order to defend the earth and reclaim the taken students gaining new allies along the journey

highlights: team up, start of the Trio power ranger teams, sixth ranger introduction, body swap episode, siblings as rangers, au episode

pros: canon ship, ranger/villian ship tease, first female blue ranger, family themes are utilized to a great degree, real conflicts between rangers, 2 evil rangers, rangers have elemental powers, female villains

cons: only 1 girl on the team, a lot of multiparters, non-japanese actors used in a show with japanese themes, no women of color

Dino Thunder (2004), 38 episodes

set in high school, 3 teenagers are chosen to help stop a monster from carrying out his plan of turning all humans into dinosaurs with the help of tommy oliver (yea THAT tommy)

highlights: tommy returns as a good character, multiple musical performances, an entire episode giving a shout out to the japanese show (super sentai) power rangers is based on, tommy gets an episode where he fights his past ranger personas, callbacks to mmpr

pros: canon ship, evil ranger, rangers have cool civilian powers, high school theme revisited and this time done well, team gadgeteer is a woman, great development for all the teens

cons: due to actor availability tommy was kind of all over the place, only one girl on the team

SPD (2005), 38 episodes

set in the future, space cops defend the earth from an invading army of aliens whilst training at their ranger police academy

highlights: brandon jay mclaren as red, first big team (10 rangers), mentors are giant humanoid animals, awesome designs, aliens are integrated into the world, evil ranger team

pros: rangers have cool civilian powers. team techie is a woman, emotional character journeys, utilizes the ranger academy setting, no secret identities, green ranger acknowledges being jewish - the first ranger to do so in the series!

cons: only 1 person of color in the entire series, seventh ranger is underused

Mystic Force (2006), 32 episodes

a witch recruits five teenagers into a war being fought in a magical forest with a dark history they must piece together

highlights: 2 canon ships, ranger sisters, MAGIC, au episode

pros: female blue ranger, female mentor who is also a ranger, explores family themes, basically power rangers harry potter, strong mythos

cons: minor characters take away focus from the rangers, rotating bag of villains, very red focused

Operation Overdrive (2007), 32 episodes

5 teenagers are brought together to scour the globe for precious treasures to prevent 3 factions of villains from gaining a great power that could destroy the world

highlights: anniversary team up episode with rangers from the past, the most amazing plot twist, ranger/villain ship tease, halloween episode

pros: rangers have cool civilian powers, great character arcs, constant scenery change due to the rangers travelling the world, no secret identities

cons: female villain is treated badly, lots of plot elements that can be overwhelming at times

Jungle Fury (2008), 32 episodes

when an ancient evil animal spirit is let loose, 3 kung fu students are tasked with becoming power rangers to defend the world from his evil reign using their own animal spirits

highlights: the theme song is a banger, pizza parlor setting, dance episode, first purple ranger

pros: interesting and complex villain relationships, 3 canon ships, equal in-depth character study for the core team, female villain

cons: only 1 person of color in the entire series, too many white people practicing kung fu, plot inconsistencies because of the writer’s strike happening mid-season, only one girl on the team

RPM (2009), 32 episodes

during the apocalypse a team of rangers defends the last city on earth from a widespread machine virus

highlights: rose mciver (izombie), adelaide kane (reign), and eka darville (AKA jessica jones) all star!, canon ship, sibling rangers

pros: unique setting, utilizes the apocalypse theme, focus on family dynamics, incredibly emotional storytelling

cons: black ranger takes up most of the focus, sexism, plot inconsistencies due to the executive producer changing mid-season, recycles plots from previous seasons

Neo Saban Era: 2011 - Currently airing

saban bought power rangers back from disney and began airing it on nickelodeon. this brought about “super” seasons where each series was split into two 22 episode seasons. it is the most recent era, shot in HD, and probably the only one aside from mighty morphin you’ll be able to find merchandise for. within neo saban era there is neo tzachor era, referring to samurai and megaforce both of which had jonathan tzachor as executive producer

Samurai (2011), 44 episodes

chosen from birth, 5 samurai are called to help keep the sanzu river from rising so the evil master xandred is not let loose

highlights: bulk returns and skull makes a cameo, episode where two rangers are stuck together, musical performance episode, Plot Twist, team up movie, holiday specials

pros: canon ship, first mentor of color, family drama themes, first season shot in HD

cons: non-japanese actors used in a show with japanese themes, there’s a side plot with red vs one of the villains that hits the same beats every time it happens

Megaforce (2013), 44 episodes

5 teenagers are chosen to protect the earth when an alien armada invades, in the second season they gain the power to morph into rangers from the past

highlights: callbacks to past seasons including 2 cameos from past rangers, anniversary team up episode, robot sixth ranger, episode dedicated to pink’s multiple costume changes, holiday specials

pros: no white boys on the core team, canon ship

cons: huge change of pace between s1 and s2 due to having to adapt two different japanese sentai series, yellow ranger only exists to be a love interest, 7th ranger is under utilized

Dino Charge (2015), 44 episodes

5 rangers from all walks of life and points in time are chosen to help keep an ancient power from falling into the hands of a bounty hunter

highlights: 7th ranger reveal, musical performance episode, body swap episode, holiday specials

pros: 10 ranger team, first black actress as a pink ranger, 2 canon ships

cons: lots of white boy focus, no actual plot, female techie is underused, several useless characters

Ninja Steel (2017), Currently Airing

an intergalactic game show has chosen earth as it’s latest host, monsters are sent down to defeat a team of teenagers chosen to be the ninja steel rangers

highlights: kelson henderson (spd, operation overdrive, mystic force) returns as the mentor, blue ranger played by the brother of the previous blue ranger

pros: first desi red, first black actress to play white ranger, pre-established canon ship

cons: non-japanese actors used in a show with japanese themes, only 8 episodes so far :( but it airs saturdays on nickelodeon at 12/11c

Where to Watch

the entire series of power rangers (barring the currently airing season) is available on netflix and amazon, all episodes are also available for purchase from shout factory and itunes!

there is also: kisscartoon, watchartoonsonline, shadowrangers, and hd-source

Other Stuff (spoilers)

hilarious guide to the many near-cancellations of the show

the passion of chip

which red ranger should you fight

breakdown of era’s of power rangers

power ranger character sorter

Blog Recs

@kathillards, @power-ranqers, @powerprincesses, @kimberlyannharts, @lunarskye, @miawatanabe, @elizabethdelgados, @blakebradley, @hunterbradley, @prettyandpowerful and ofc @erniesbrainfreeze

if you have any questions feel free to stop by my ask box!

[operationoverdrive]

tomkats have been waiting for that one annoying blog who was willing to throw their hat into the ring for them and i guess i’m that bitch